So close, yet so different. Meeting planners in the U.S. have the unique advantage of being sandwiched between two fascinating and distinct nations, each of which offers an array of opportunities to create the perfect meeting, conference or incentive program.
Recent renovations and upgrades, as well as brand-new developments, have resulted in a variety of new options for planners in both countries, for 2017 and beyond.
CANADA
“Canada has evolved as a superior, world-class meetings destination, with incredible venues and dynamic cities coast to coast,” said Michael Shannon, director of business development, Northeast U.S., for Business Events Canada (BEC), a unit of the Canadian Tourism Commission that markets the destination for meetings, conventions and incentives.
“You can host a multinational extravaganza for thousands or plan an intimate, celebratory trip for a few,” he said. “With easy air access from all major cities in the U.S., Canada can provide everything for corporate, association and incentive programs.”
According to BEC, Canada is the most popular choice for outbound meetings from the U.S., pumping some $1.5 billion annually into the Canadian economy.
Topping Canada’s list for international meetings and incentives in Canada is Vancouver, which ranked as the top city in North America for international meetings, according to a 2015 report from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). During that year, the destination hosted 78 international meetings, placing it 29th in the world.
Among the newest meetings-friendly developments in Vancouver is parq, which will debut in late 2017 as the city’s first LEED Gold “urban resort,” complete with a 329-room JW Marriott parq Vancouver and a 188-room boutique hotel called The Douglas.
It’s easy to combine natural beauty with meetings in Canada. In Alberta’s Banff National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, was to finish renovations to its Victoria Ballroom in October, modernizing its features while keeping its original elegance intact.
The city of Calgary is also in growth mode, recently adding more than 800 hotel guest rooms with the debut of the Delta Hotels Calgary Airport In-Terminal, the Hilton Garden Inn Calgary Airport and the Westin Calgary Airport Hotel. The destination is also welcoming a major new venue this year, with the opening of the $191 million Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre. With 22,000 square feet of exhibition space dedicated to music, the facility also has a 300-seat performance space and recording studios. Also integrated into the venue is the restored King Edward Hotel, a historic 1905 property that features a 2,500-square-foot rooftop terrace as well as a 150-seat restaurant.
Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is home to many new developments. The Thompson Toronto is spending more than $1.5 million to renovate its meeting space, guest rooms and lobby bar. Also unveiling upgrades is the Courtyard Toronto Downtown, which spent some $14.5 million on revamped meeting rooms as well as redesigned guest rooms with new beds, in-room safes, mini fridges and free Wi-Fi.
Also of interest to Toronto-bound groups: The Vue Event Venue’s newest acquisition, the Royal Woodbine Golf Club, offers 9,000 square feet of event space, with multiple bars and dining options and a 4,000-square-foot patio.
MEXICO
Hotels are in the news for meeting planners in Mexico, thanks to an array of new openings and renovations. As a result, the destination is attracting more meetings than ever, according to Eduardo Chaillo, owner of Global Meetings & Tourism Specialists in Falls Church, Va., and a former executive director for the meetings industry at the Mexico Tourism Board.
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“Mexico has evolved tremendously in the way the country approaches the meetings industry,” he said. “An economic impact study done for 2014 noted international attendance to meetings grew from 830,000 in 2010 to 2.1 million global attendees; from 197,400 meetings to 266,117.”
In addition, Chaillo said, “the Mexico Tourism Board has a new CEO, Lourdes Berho, who in only two months has announced renewed initiatives to continue stimulating the meetings industry activities, such as a national ambassador program and a customer advisory board for the whole country.”
Mexico City, the nation’s capital and the largest city in North America, is a natural hub for meetings and incentives. With more than 53,000 hotel rooms at nearly every price point, this bustling metropolis has multiple large-scale convention centers, and is adding an important new luxury hotel option in 2019, when a 153-room Ritz-Carlton debuts in a 58-story building on the centrally located Paseo de la Reforma boulevard.
Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara, is also enjoying increased business, as several new hotels attract greater attention. Among the top choices: Casa Fayette, a stylish 37-room boutique property that belongs to Design Hotels and made it onto Travel + Leisure’s “It List” of the Best New Hotels on the Planet this year; Solar de las Animas, a member of Relais & Chateaux located in the town of Tequila; and NH Collection Guadalajara Centro Historico, in the historic city center. Early next year, the 220-room Hyatt Regency Andares Guadalajara is to open as part of the upscale Andares shopping complex.
Luxury is also in focus in the city of Puebla, where the 78-room Rosewood Puebla is slated to debut before the end of this year, as the company’s fourth property in Mexico. The upscale hotel will have a restaurant with outdoor courtyard seating, a rooftop bar and swimming pool, as well as a 300-year-old chapel available for private events.
In the business-popular city of Leon, planners can choose from multiple hotels near Poliforum Leon, the destination’s largest convention center, including the Radisson Poliforum Plaza, Holiday Inn Leon-Convention Center and Courtyard Leon at the Poliforum.
Mexico’s coastline is home to a growing number of unique and noteworthy choices for groups. The Convention Center at Grand Velas Los Cabos, which opens late this year, will have 16,370 square feet of event space.
One of the newest hotel options in Los Cabos is Cachet Beach Hotel in Cabo San Lucas, which is to open in December as Cachet Hotel Group’s first resort development. The first section, Cachet Beach, will have 77 rooms, while a new hotel tower, called Cachet Deluxe, is to debut in early 2018 with 204 guest rooms. Located on Medano Beach, the property will have multiple restaurants, a beach club and more than 20,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Also new on the scene in Los Cabos is Chileno Bay Resort & Residences, which debuts in February 2017 with more than 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event and meeting space. And Esperanza, Cabo San Lucas, an Auberge Resorts Collection property, recently unveiled its new Floating Lounge, an on-the-water venue with space for a live DJ, watersports activities, cocktails and appetizers.
Farther south, the Fairmont Costa Canuva, which opens in 2018 in Riviera Nayarit, is designed for groups looking to enjoy the great outdoors. Set along the beach north of Punta Mita, the property will have a golf course designed by Greg Norman and Lorena Ochoa, as well as a canopy park with ziplines and more than 12 miles of cycling tracks designed by the International Mountain Bicycling Association.
In Cancun, new options include the all-inclusive Hyatt Ziva Cancun, which opened in January with 16,000 square feet of meeting space. Sandos Cancun Luxury Resort, meanwhile, introduced a new penthouse event venue, with a terrace and space for up to 60 attendees for cocktail receptions and 30 for dinner.
Elsewhere on the Yucatan Peninsula, planners looking to indulge their groups can consider Chable Spa & Resort, a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, that is to open by the end of 2016 near the city of Merida. The property has 38 villas, two three-bedroom presidential suites and a restored 19th century hacienda building, and is close to many activities and attractions in the state of Yucatan, as well as meeting facilities and businesses in the capital city.
